Portable light tower unit

ABSTRACT

Expandable portable light tower units and methods for their use. The portable light tower unit includes a base, an extendable and retractable tower assembly supported on the base, an expandable and collapsible canopy assembly supported by the tower assembly above the base, and a lighting assembly supported on the tower assembly above the canopy assembly. The canopy provides shade beneath the lighting assembly.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.62/655,287, filed Apr. 10, 2018, the contents of which are incorporatedherein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to portable lighting unitssuitable for providing lighting for spaces in which people may gatherfor various activities, including but not limited to social andentertainment activities such as outdoor fairs, amusement parks,concerts, and the like, commercial activities such as construction andindustrial settings, and emergency scenarios.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides expandable portable light tower units andmethods for their use.

According to one aspect of the invention, a portable light tower unitincludes a base, an extendable and retractable tower assembly supportedon the base, an expandable and collapsible canopy assembly supported bythe tower assembly above the base, and a lighting assembly supported onthe tower assembly above the canopy assembly. The canopy provides shadebeneath the lighting assembly.

Technical aspects of light tower units as described above preferablyinclude the ability to provide a mobile lighting unit for use in a widevariety of situations and applications, including entertainment,construction, industrial, and emergency scenarios. The light tower unitis configured to provide flood lighting to a large area and a canopy toprovide shade beneath the lighting assembly. The light tower unit mayalso integrate seating, electronic device charging facilities, coolingfans, misters, accent lighting, and/or other accessories to furtherprovide a comfortable rest and relaxation area for individuals beneaththe canopy.

Other aspects and advantages of this invention will be furtherappreciated from the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1 and 2 are perspective and front views of a portable light towerunit that integrates a canopy and seating units beneath the canopy inaccordance with a nonlimiting embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the light tower unit of FIGS. 1 and2.

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the light tower unit of FIGS. 1 to 3 with thecanopy thereof omitted.

FIG. 5 is a detailed view of a canopy support arm assembly of the lighttower unit of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a top view of a base of the light tower unit of FIGS. 1 to 5.

FIGS. 7 through 10 are detailed views of upper and lower support platesof the light tower unit of FIGS. 1 to 6.

FIGS. 11 to 14 represent interlocking mechanisms for sequencingtelescopic retraction of pole sections of the tower assembly.

FIGS. 15 and 16 represent receiving and anchor assemblies, respectively,of the interlocking mechanisms of FIGS. 11 to 14, and FIG. 17 depictsthe interaction of the anchor and receiver assemblies of FIGS. 15 and16.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1 through 17 represent a portable light tower unit 10 and variouscomponents thereof. To facilitate the description provided below of thetower unit 10 and its components represented in the drawings, relativeterms, including but not limited to, “vertical,” “horizontal,”“lateral,” “front,” “rear,” “side,” “forward,” “rearward,” “upper,”“lower,” “above,” “below,” “right,” “left,” etc., may be used inreference to the orientation of the unit 10 during its operation asrepresented in the drawings. All such relative terms are intended toindicate the construction and relative orientations of components andfeatures of the tower unit 10, and therefore are relative terms intendedto indicate the construction, installation and use of the invention andtherefore help to define the scope of the invention.

FIGS. 1 and 2 represent the portable light tower unit 10 as comprising abase 12, an extendable and retractable tower assembly 14 supported onthe base 12, an expandable and collapsible canopy assembly 16 supportedby the tower assembly 14 above the base 12, a blind 20 beneath thecanopy assembly 16 for enclosing or otherwise at least partiallyconcealing the base 12 and a portion of the tower assembly 14, and alighting assembly 18 supported on the tower assembly 14 above the canopyassembly 16. FIGS. 1 and 2 further show the light tower unit 10 ascomprising seating units 22 that surround the base 12 beneath the canopyassembly 16.

The lighting assembly 18 may be any of a wide variety of lightingequipment, though in preferred embodiments the lighting assembly 18comprises LED lights capable of producing sufficient lumens for thelighting demands of a space in which people may gather for an intendedactivity, including but not limited to social and entertainmentactivities such as outdoor fairs, amusement parks, concerts, and thelike, commercial activities such as construction and industrialsettings, and emergency scenarios. Notably, the canopy assembly 16 islocated beneath the lighting assembly 18 to provide shade from lightemitted by the lighting assembly 18, as well as shade from naturalsunlight during daylight periods of the day. The lighting assembly 18may draw electrical power that is delivered to the base 12 from asuitable external source, such as a local electric utility grid, and maybe supplemented or replaced with batteries located on the base 12 toprovide uninterrupted power to the lighting assembly 18 in the event ofa power outage. As evident from FIGS. 1 and 2, the lighting assembly 18comprises multiple lighting units 18A and 18B each comprising multiplevertical rows of LED lights that provide predominantly ornamentallighting, and a lighting unit 18C comprising larger LED flood lightslocated at the top of the lighting assembly 18 that are predominantlyresponsible for providing illumination lighting.

FIG. 3 depicts a cross-sectional view of the light tower unit 10 withthe seating units 22 removed, which may be an alternative configurationto the seated configuration in FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 3 reveals the towerassembly 14 as comprising multiple tube or pole sections 14A, 14B, 14C,and 14D that are assembled in a telescoping manner so that the uppermostpole section 14A is telescopically received in an upper intermediatepole section 14B immediately therebelow, which is telescopicallyreceived in a lower intermediate pole section 14C immediatelytherebelow, which in turn is telescopically received in the lowermostpole section 14D immediately therebelow. The lighting units 18A and 18Bmay be telescopically mounted on the same section of the tower assembly14. For example, with the lighting unit 18B located above the lightingunit 18A when the tower assembly 14 is in the extended or deployedconfiguration seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the lighting unit 18A surrounds thepole section 14B and the lighting unit 18B surrounds the pole section14A. The lighting unit 18A can then be telescoped upward and into thelighting unit 18B so that the entire lighting assembly 18 surrounds onlythe uppermost pole section 14A to facilitate the collapsing of the towerassembly 14 into a retracted or stowed configuration, discussed below.

FIG. 4 represents the light tower unit 10 of FIGS. 1 through 3 with thelighting unit 18A retracted up into the lighting unit 18B and the blind20 and a canopy 24 of the canopy assembly 16 omitted. The omission ofthe blind 20 reveals a pump 36 supported on the base 12 for providinghydraulic power for raising and collapsing the tower assembly 14, asdiscussed below. The omission of the canopy 24 reveals a collapsiblesupport arm assembly 37 (FIGS. 4 and 5) comprising bows 38 that supportthe canopy 24 and braces 40 for actuating the bows 38 between a deployedposition of the canopy 24 shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 and a collapsed position(not shown) in which the arms 38 are lowered. The base 12 is representedin FIG. 6 as generally square-shaped with lift pockets 26 on all four ofits sides to allow the base 12 (with the tower assembly 14 attachedthereto) to be moved with a fork truck or similar material handlingdevice. FIG. 6 further depicts the base 12 as comprising four outriggers28 shown as extending from corners of the base 12. The outriggers 28 canbe configured to rotate outward from the corners of the base 12 andsecured with an inner sleeve 30 secured to a fastening point on the base12. The outward end of each outrigger 28 is equipped with a threadedscrew jack 32, each of which extends downward into a socket on a groundpad 34. By extending the screw jacks 32 downward, the base 12 can belifted off of the ground to level the tower assembly 14 and support theentire tower assembly 14 on the ground pads 34 at the outermost cornersof the base 12.

As seen in FIG. 4, the tower assembly 14 is generally a vertical columnsupported on the base 12. As previously noted, the nonlimitingembodiment of the tower assembly 14 shown in the drawings comprises fourtelescoping pole sections 14A, 14B, 14C, and 14D, such that the towerassembly 14 has the aforementioned stowed and deployed configurations.The pole sections 14A, 14B, and 14C define upper movable pole sectionsthat telescope upward from the lowermost pole section 14D, which isstationary and secured directly to the base 12. Transition of the towerassembly 14 between its stowed and deployed configurations can beperformed with a conventional hydraulic cylinder system (not shown)powered and controlled by the pump 36 mounted on the base 12. Themovable pole sections 14A, 14B, and 14C of the tower assembly 14 can becontrolled to extend upward and retract downward through hydrauliccylinders (not shown) supplied by hydraulic fluid delivered by theoperation of the pump 36. As a nonlimiting example, the tower assembly14 may extend to a height in excess of 20 feet (about 6 meters). Thelighting assembly 18 can be seen in FIG. 4 as mounted to the uppermostmovable section 14A of the tower assembly 14.

The tower assembly 14 is preferably equipped with rollers 42 installedon support plates 44 mounted to the upper ends of the lowermoststationary pole section 14D and on the movable intermediate movablesections 14B and 14C, as represented in FIGS. 7 through 10. The rollers42 engage the outer longitudinal walls of the pole sections 14A, 14B,and 14C to provide a low-friction interface therebetween to facilitatethe telescopic movement of the movable pole sections 14A, 14B, and 14Crelative to, respectively, the pole sections 14B, 14C, and 14D thattelescopically receive them. Additionally, the rollers 42 are preferablymanually adjustable relative to the vertical centerline of the towerassembly 14 to facilitate a centering effect and maintain properclearances between the outer longitudinal walls of the pole sections14A, 14B and 14C and the corresponding inner longitudinal walls of thepole sections 14B, 14C and 14D in which the former are received. Thesupport plates 44 are shown as also serving as the pivot anchors for thebows 38 (FIGS. 7 and 8) and braces 40 (FIGS. 9 and 10) of the canopyassembly 16.

FIGS. 8 and 10 show the support plates 44 as mounted on platforms 46rigidly secured to the upper ends of the pole sections 14B, 14C, and14D. The platforms 46 and the pole sections 14B, 14C, and 14D to whichthey are secured are schematically represented in FIG. 11 with thesupport plates 44 omitted, and insets A, B, and C identified in FIG. 11are shown in FIGS. 12, 13, and 14, respectively, to better illustratethe operation of sets of complementary interlocking mechanisms that aremounted on the platforms 46 to control the telescopic motion betweentelescoping pairs of the pole sections 14A, 14B, 14C, and 14D. As shownin FIGS. 11 through 14, the interlocking mechanisms are made up of ananvil assembly 50 and a receiver assembly 52 that cooperate to inhibitmovement of a movable pole section 14A, 14B, and 14C from beingretracted downward into the movable pole section 14B and 14C below ituntil that pole section 14B and 14C has been fully retracted into itstelescopically-paired pole section 14C and 14D, respectively.

With reference to FIGS. 12 and 13, movement of the pole section 14Brelative to the pole section 14C immediately below it is inhibited by apin 54 (FIGS. 15 and 17) of the receiver assembly 52 on the platform 46of the lower pole section 14C. The pin 54 engages a tubular sleeve orother suitable feature (not shown) in a wall of the upper pole section14B, locking the pole sections 14B and 14C together and preventing thepole section 14B from being telescopically retracted into the polesection 14C. The pin 54 is biased into engagement with the pole section14B by a spring 56, which prevents the pin 54 from disengaging the polesection 14B until the lower pole section 14C has been lowered to engageits receiver assembly 52 with the anvil assembly 50 of the stationarypole section 14D (FIG. 12). The pin 54 is disengaged from the polesection 14B as a result of complementary angled contact surfaces 58 and60 on the anvil and receiver assemblies 50 and 52, respectively, whichmechanically convert the vertical force of the retracting pole section14C into a horizontal force which compresses the spring 56 and retractsthe pin 54. When the receiver assembly 52 of the pole section 14C isfully engaged with the anchor assembly 50 of the stationary pole section14D, the spring 56 is compressed and the pin 54 is sufficientlyretracted to unlock the pole section 14B immediately above the receiverassembly 52, enabling the pole section 14B to be telescopicallyretracted into the pole section 14C. The same process then occursbetween the receiver assembly 52 of the pole section 14B (FIG. 14) andthe anchor assembly 50 of the pole section 14C (FIG. 13), with the polesection 14A remaining locked to the pole section 14B until the polesection 14B has been telescopically retracted into the pole section 14C,thereby disengaging the pin 54 of the pole section 14B from the polesection 14A. The use of the interlocking mechanisms ensures that whenthe tower assembly 14 is retracted, the telescopic retraction of thepole sections 14A, 14B, and 14C is sequenced so that the largest andlowest movable pole section 14C is retracted first, followed by thesmaller pole section 14B immediately above it, and finally the smallestpole section 14A. When a movable pole section 14A, 14B, or 14C isdeployed upward, the pins 54 of the interlocking mechanismsautomatically re-engage the pole sections 14A and 14B above it, causingthose movable pole sections 14A, 14B, and 14C to be temporarily lockedtogether.

As noted above, the canopy assembly 16 is mounted to the tower assembly14 via the support plates 44, which anchor the bows 38 and braces 40 ofthe canopy assembly 16 to the tower assembly 14. In the nonlimitingembodiment shown, the plates 44 are mounted to upper ends of the twolowest pole sections 14C and 14D, such that the canopy 24 is supportedby the bows 38 that are pivotally connected to the upper support plate44 attached to the movable pole section 14C, and the canopy 24 is fullyexpanded by the bows 38 through the action of the braces 40, which arepivotally connected to the lower support plate 44 attached to thestationary pole section 14D. The bows 38 and braces 40 of the supportarm assembly are connected to the support plates 44 via mountingbrackets arrayed around their circumference, from which the bows 38 andbraces 40 pivotably extend for supporting the canopy as evident fromFIGS. 2 through 5. To deploy the canopy assembly 16, the series ofstructural bows 38 are affixed to the mounting brackets of the supportplate 44 mounted to the movable pole section 14C of the tower assembly14. The canopy 24 is then affixed to the bows 38, after which themovable pole section 14C is raised to deploy the canopy 24 with thebraces 40 connected to corresponding mounting brackets on the bows 38.Once the movable pole section 14C is fully extended, the braces 40 areutilized to secure the bows 38 in their extended positions with thesupported canopy 24 in place, for example, if the upper ends of thebraces 40 were already connected to corresponding mounting brackets onthe bows 38 (for example, to assist in raising the bows 38), the lowerend of each brace 40 is then secured to a corresponding one of themounting brackets on the lower support plate 44 to yield the resultshown in FIGS. 4 and 5. Alternatively, essentially the same proceduremay be followed in reverse order. The upper and/or lower ends of eachbrace 40 are disconnected from their respective mounting brackets tostow the canopy 24 and disassemble the canopy assembly 16 prior toretracting the movable pole section 14C.

As represented in FIGS. 1 and 2, multiple seating units 22 can beindividually placed around or installed on the base 12 of the lighttower unit 10. Due to the portability aspect of the tower unit 10, theseating units 22 are preferably collapsible for transport or storage.The seating units 22 of FIGS. 1 and 2 are represented as foldablebenches that provide places for users to sit. Transitioning from asitting configuration to a folded configuration may entail therelocation of a single pin at opposite ends of each bench. The seatingunits 22 may further include charging stations for portable devices(cell phones, tablets, etc.), cooling fans, misters, accent lighting, orother accessories to further provide a comfortable rest and relaxationarea for individuals beneath the canopy 24. Alternatively or inaddition, such amenities may be associated with the base 12 and drawelectrical power that is delivered to the base 12 and used by the towerunit 10 to provide electrical power to the lighting assembly 18.

While the invention has been described in terms of particularembodiments, it should be apparent that alternatives could be adopted byone skilled in the art. For example, the light tower unit 10 and itscomponents could differ in appearance and construction from theembodiments described herein and shown in the drawings, functions ofcertain components of the light tower unit 10 could be performed bycomponents of different construction but capable of a similar (thoughnot necessarily equivalent) function, and various materials could beused in the fabrication of the light tower unit 10 and/or itscomponents. In addition, the invention encompasses additional oralternative embodiments in which one or more features or aspects ofdifferent disclosed embodiments may be combined. Accordingly, it shouldbe understood that the invention is not necessarily limited to anyembodiment described herein or illustrated in the drawings. It shouldalso be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed aboveare for the purpose of describing the illustrated embodiments, and donot necessarily serve as limitations to the scope of the invention.Therefore, the scope of the invention is to be limited only by thefollowing claims.

1. A portable light tower unit comprising: a base; an extendable andretractable tower assembly supported on the base; an expandable andcollapsible canopy assembly supported by the tower assembly above thebase; and a lighting assembly supported on the tower assembly above thecanopy assembly, the canopy providing shade beneath the lightingassembly.
 2. The portable light tower unit according to claim 1, whereinthe tower assembly comprises multiple telescoping pole sections thatinclude multiple upper movable pole sections and a lowermost stationarypole section mounted to the base, the movable pole sections beingtelescopically receivable in and extendable from the stationarytelescoping section.
 3. The portable light tower unit according to claim2, wherein the tower assembly comprises interlocking mechanisms thatinhibit each of the movable pole sections from being retracted downwarduntil all of the movable pole sections therebelow have been fullyretracted.
 4. The portable light tower unit according to claim 3,wherein the interlocking mechanisms comprise anvil and receiverassemblies and, when a first upper pole section of the movable polesections is fully retracted downward into a lower pole section of thetelescoping pole sections, a pin of the receiver assembly located on thefirst upper pole section disengages a second upper pole section of themovable pole sections located above the first upper pole section toenable the second upper pole section to retract into the first upperpole section.
 5. The portable light tower unit according to claim 3,wherein the interlocking mechanisms comprise anvil and receiverassemblies and, when a first upper pole section of the movable polesections is deployed upward, a pin of the receiver assembly located on asecond pole section located below the first upper pole section engagesthe first upper pole section upon full extension of the first upper polesection, causing the first upper pole section and the second polesection to temporarily lock together.
 6. The portable light tower unitaccording to claim 2, further comprising an hydraulic pump supported onthe base for hydraulically telescopically extending and telescopicallyretracting the movable pole sections relative to each other and relativeto the stationary pole section.
 7. The portable light tower unitaccording to claim 2, wherein the lighting assembly comprises first andsecond lighting units that are mounted on an uppermost movable polesection of the movable pole sections, the first lighting unit surroundsthe uppermost movable pole section, the second lighting unit istelescopically extendable downward from the first lighting unit tosurround a second movable pole section below the uppermost movable polesection, and second lighting unit is telescopically retractable upwardinto the first lighting unit so that both of the first and secondlighting units surround the uppermost movable pole section.
 8. Theportable light tower unit according to claim 2, wherein the canopyassembly is deployed by telescopically extending one of the movable polesections relative to the stationary pole section and is stowed bytelescopically retracting the one movable pole section relative to thestationary pole section.
 9. The portable light tower unit according toclaim 1, further comprising at least one seating unit around orinstalled on the base of the light tower unit.
 10. The portable lighttower unit according to claim 9, wherein the seating unit comprisesfoldable benches that are collapsible for subsequent transport orstorage.
 11. The portable light tower unit according to claim 1, whereinthe base comprises outriggers on which the base and the tower assemblyare entirely supported.
 12. The portable light tower unit according toclaim 1, further comprising a blind at least partially concealing thebase.
 13. The portable light tower unit according to claim 1, furthercomprising electronic device charging facilities, cooling fans, misters,and/or accent lighting associated with the base.
 14. A method of usingthe portable light tower unit of claim 1, the method comprising:transporting the portable light tower unit to a location while the towerassembly is in a retracted configuration and the canopy assembly is in acollapsed configuration; extending the tower assembly to simultaneouslyexpand the canopy assembly; and powering the lighting assembly so thatthe lighting assembly generates light and the canopy assembly providesshade beneath the lighting assembly.